


Invictus

by mar1



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Curse Breaking, F/M, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27054274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mar1/pseuds/mar1
Summary: "I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul." - William Erenest Henley, InvictusKinhe has known her destiny for as long as she can remember: bring honor to the nation, marry the firstborn son of the cruel Fire Lord, and break the dragon curse that poison's her family name. That is until the prince is banished and the ties that bind thier fate is turned to ash.Three years later, the prince has returned and his honor is restored. Kinhe is welcomed back into royal life once again and together, she and Zuko must navigate the lethal world of politics, the strange remnants of a childhood friendship, and their changing destinies which become more hopelessly entwined the cloer they get to them. [zuko / oc]
Relationships: Zuko (Avatar)/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	Invictus

**Author's Note:**

> I recently rewatched ATLA instead of doing my homework and now I've decided to write this story instead of doing my homework becuase I Hate zoom university. Also sorry if this prologue is a bit long and boring i was just really inspired by the first minute of shrek ( ._.)  
> Don't forget to comment something mean. Hatred fuels my resolve.  
> xx mari

_invictus_

unconquerable

_book one_

“Once upon a time, in a land not so far away from this one, dragons roamed the earth. They lived in harmony with humans, and even taught them to wield the sun as they did. For centuries, there was balance among the people and the dragons. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.”

“Fire Lord Sozin declared that killing a dragon would be the ultimate test of a firebender. That one could secure lifelong honor and glory for themselves and for their family. And as the nation was just starting to settle after the chaos of the beginning of the war, many were eager to claim a title. One of those desperate to prove himself was a young man called Kiyotsuna.

“Kiyotsuna was not the most talented firebender, nor the most experienced, but he wielded his intelligence like a sword. He came from nothing, but by this time he had already used his sharp mind to drag himself up from poverty. But comfort was not enough for him, he desperately wanted what was promised to those who could kill a dragon. He knew greatness was his destiny. And there was one dragon greater than all others, one whom quelled even the strongest firebenders. This would be Kiyotsuna’s prize. The reason this dragon was so powerful though, was because it could do more than bend fire. It could bend lightening.

“Now, Kiyotsuna knew that he was no match for lightening that could quiet the heart in moments, so he decided he would come to the dragon asking for knowledge, and would only vanquish it once he had learned the secret way of calling the power of storms. The dragon was suspicious of him at first, but eventually, Kiyotsuna gained its trust. It agreed to teach him lightening bending, but only if Kiyotsuna swore on his spirit that he would never use it to harm one of the dragon’s kind, and that he wouldn’t share it with another soul. Kiyotsuna sealed his fate.

“He killed the golden dragon before it even knew it had been betrayed. He returned home and presented Fire Lord Sozin with the golden scales of the dragon, and he was swiftly given all the glory he was promised. All knew his name. He was even given the honorary title of Golden Dragon.

“And when Lord Sozin learned of the methods which Kiyotsuna used to defeat the dragon, he offered him a place as one of his personal advisors if he agreed to teach the fire lord lightning bending. And so Kiyotsuna broke the promise he had made once again. But the haze of glory blinded him, and so he paid no mind to it.

“But that night, the spirit of the Golden Dragon found him in his sleep and dragged him to the Spirit World _._ “ _You think yourself worthy of my name, human? You are no more worthy than the worms who slither across my lifeless bones. I will show what it truly means to be the Golden Dragon, Kiyotsuna.”_

“And the Golden Dragon cast lightning at him, scarring his spirit. When Kiyotsuna woke, he thought that it must’ve been a horrible dream, but when he caught his reflection in the mirror, he saw that his hair had turned to gold. But that was not all the spirit dragon had done, because the next thing he realized was that the energy inside him had gone silent, his connection to the sun turned cold. Not only had he lost his ability to guide lightening, but he had lost his ability to wield fire.

“The end." What a ridiculous story.

It’s silent for a moment. The dull moon casts the room in harsh greys and the breeze blows the thin curtains away from the sill. There’s a potted fire lily there, slightly wilted because I can never remember to water it. From somewhere far away, a cat owl sings its mournful song into the hot darkness.

“That’s _not_ the end,” Suzume says, with the kind of sass exclusively reserved for little girls.

“Tonight it is.” I yawn, rolling away from my six-year-old sister who has somehow conned me into sharing my room with her. In the beginning, she cited nightmares or scary noises. Now she doesn’t even bother, just creeps into my room every night after mother puts her to bed. I pretend that I get annoyed with her, but really I don’t like being alone any more than she does.

“Kinhe!” She whines. “I want to hear the rest.”

“Then you tell it,” I mumble into my pillow. I don’t like the rest of the story.

“Fine!” She huffs, and then dramatically clears her throat. “Even though the dragon was _very_ mad at Great Grandfather for a long time, he changed his mind. When Kiyotsuna was really old and he had a grandson named Akai that was the father of Suzume and Kinhe and Kiyo, the Gold Dragon took him back to the spirit world.” She pauses. “Ok, you have to be the dragon.” I sigh and roll back to face her. I’ve spoiled her too much to say no.

“Kiyotsuna, you have grown wise —“

“You have to do the voice!” She interrupts.

I sigh again, but use the same hissing voice I did the first time the dragon spoke. “ _Kiyotsuna, you have grown wise with your age. You are no longer the young man riddled with arrogance and pride. I am merciful and so I will promise you this. One of your descendants will be given the chance to lift the curse. The fire I took from you will be returned to them, and they will sit at the right hand of the one who rules this land to remedy its mistakes and return true honor and glory to the Fire Nation. Only then will the spirits of your family be healed.”_ Suzu nods, satisfied and continues.

“Everyone thought Great Grandpa was just old and crazy until Kinhe was born and she had funny hair and she was a firebender. And her father didn’t want her to have to go to sit by the Fire Lord so he helped her keep her firebending secret. But then Akai had to go to fight the earth kingdom wall and he never came back and he never met Suzume, except when she was a baby and didn’t remember him. And Kinhe was so sad that she set the house on fire one day and Fire Sages found out and so they made her go to the palace.”

You can see why I don’t like this story. Suzume is unfazed by the glare I level at her.

“And she was nine and that’s only three years older than me right now and she had to learn firebending with the prince and the princess and she had to do boring lessons all day and she never got to spend time with her sister and brother. And she had to do that for four years so she was friends with the prince and princess, and she also fell in love with the prince and probably kissed him.”

“No she didn’t.” Now it’s my turn to correct the story. Maybe it was a little true, but Suzu doesn’t need to know that.

 _“Y_ ou always say that the storyteller can tell the story however they want and I want it to be a love story.” Her teeth flash in the darkness. She’s too clever for her own good. She rightly takes my silence as defeat. “Anyway, so they were very in love and they were going to get married and everything until one day, the fire lord was being mean and he burned the prince and made him go away. And then Kinhe never had to go to the palace again and she also couldn’t bend anymore and the fire sages said it was because her destiny was ruined. And that was two years ago so now she lives happily ever after with her favorite sibling Suzume and her second favorite sibling Kiyo and her mom. The end.”

“I don’t have a favorite sibling. I love you both equally.” I correct.

“Did I tell the story as good as you?” She asks ignoring me, dark eyes glinting in the moonlight.

“Even better. Dad would be very proud.“ He’s the one who had inspired my love of stories, and the reason I let Suzu con me into telling her one every night. I ruffle her golden hair, “Now go to sleep.” I roll over again, facing the window and the pale, knowing moon that’s rising. It’s quiet for a long time, long enough that I think Suzume’s gone to sleep. She hasn’t quite learned that sometimes comfortable silence is the best kind of noise so she rarely stops talking when she’s awake.

“Do you miss the prince sometimes?” Suzu asks after a while. I want to pretend to be asleep because I don’t like her question, but maybe if I answer, I’ll convince myself.

“No.” I say flatly. “I’m happy he’s gone.” I don’t know if it’s a lie. I can tell by her silence that Suzu doesn’t like my answer.

"Well, I'm happy too." She decides, though not as harshly as I do. "If you had to be the curse breaker, you wouldn't get to be my big sister. Promise me you'll never leave me."

"Suzu-" I can't promise her that, it has never been in my control.

"Please Kinhe?" And when she looks at me with her puppy dog eyes and I make a promise I can't keep. 


End file.
